Cape Town - Trumpeter and vocalist Mandisi Dyantyis has celebrated a highly successful 2019, in which he released his debut album “Somandla” and was nominated for the SAMA award for best Jazz Album of 2019, as well as the Mzantsi Jazz Awards.
To bring the year to a close, Dyantyis was named on the line-up for the 2020 Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF).
Dyantyis was born and raised in Port Elizabeth and began playing the trumpet at the age of 8. He studied Classical music throughout his schooling career and emerged from the University of Cape Town with a BMus Honors Degree in Jazz Studies in 2005.
He is a versatile musician who is also a composer, arranger and producer in Jazz, Western Classical and African Indigenous music. He has played with some of the country’s top musicians over the years, including Jimmy Dludlu, The Abdullah Ibrahim Big Band, Robbie Jansen, Max Vidima, Moreira Chonguica just to name a few. He has produced, played and co-written on Nomfundo Xaluva’s multi award winning albums KUSILE and From Now On.
His debut album is a work premised on the sacred act of prayer, peppered with issues of current societal interest and romantic sentiment delivered in the persuasive elegance of his mother tongue, isiXhosa. “Somandla” has tracks that are more traditional gospel, it has tracks that have elements of Afro-pop as well as tracks that speak directly to the jazz and Afro-jazz audience.
On the success of this debut album, he has played the Summer Silo Concerts to 3000 people, as well as at the J&B Met. He has played at numerous other events and festivals, often to sold out shows.
Dyantyis take to the stage at Africa’s Grandest Gathering alongside local and international music icons such as Abdullah Ibrahim, Jonathan Butler – with special guest Candy Dulfer from the Netherlands, Kwetu Trio (featuring Aaron Rimbui, Herbie Tsoaeli and Ayanda Sikade), Lira, MF Robots from the United Kingdom, and Nduduzo Makhathini.
Video by Sandisiwe Ntlemeza and Nkosazana Sithole
The Cape Town International Jazz Festival (CTIJF) will take place on 27 and 28 March 2020 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).
The Festival sets out to provide a platform to showcase emerging and established talent from the continent and further afield, explains Billy Domingo, CTIJF Festival Director.
“Over the last 20 years, we have that the CTIJF is passionate about developing local talent. The 2020 CTIJF is no exception and promises an unforgettable line-up of top local artists, alongside their international contemporaries,” he says.
Come and experience this once-in-a-lifetime jazz spectacular. General access tickets for the 2020 festival are available at Computicket at R999 for a Weekend Pass and R649 for a Day Pass.